China Says U.S. Trade Pressure Won’t Work

China fired back after the Trump administration threatened to double proposed tariffs on $200 billion in Chinese goods, saying it won’t yield to White House pressure.

“China has been fully prepared and will have to retaliate to defend national dignity and the people’s interests,” the Commerce Ministry said in a statement Thursday.

Officials didn’t specify how it would retaliate. Because China imports far less from the U.S. than the U.S. imports from China, it can’t keep up tit-for-tat tariffs. But it can delay licenses and hold up mergers and acquisition approvals for American businesses and increase inspections of U.S. products at ports.